Law and regulation

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew presided over his first Financial Stability Oversight Council on Thursday only hours after being sworn into his position by President Obama.

The Senate Banking Committee held another hearing on FHA's capital shortfall Thursday, debating whether to focus on stabilizing the agency's finances or pushing for more substantive changes.

"One of the greatest threats facing not just banks but many businesses … is hacking and the possible theft of proprietary data and personal information about customers," Fed Gov. Raskin warned.

Making home loans that aren't "qualified mortgages" will soon carry legal risk. Will making only QM loans expose lenders to fair-lending claims under the disparate impact doctrine? Washington must clarify.

Thirteen mortgage servicers will begin compensating more than 4 million borrowers beginning in April as part of the amended consent orders released by regulators on Thursday.

During the Credit Union National Association conference on Wednesday, Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said smaller financial institutions should lend beyond a new ultrasafe class of mortgages created by the agency.

Checking account regulations are outdated even for their primary product. Why would you want to regulate prepaid cards with a set of archaic rules?

Following allegations that the FHFA killed a Fannie Mae plan that would have saved homeowners and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, the ranking member of the House Finance Committee has asked the regulator to explain its decision.

At a Credit Union National Association conference in Washington on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren defended both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its director Richard Cordray.

Wilbur Tate III was charged Wednesday with taking bribes from Oxford Collection Agency.

Are regulatory rules meant to make big banks safer instead doing more to shield them from competition from smaller players?

The sales pitch behind many mobile payment systems is convenience, but some companies are learning that when a payment system becomes too convenient, the backlash can last for years.

The Senate confirmed White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to be the next Tresaury Secretary by a vote of 71-26 on Wednesday night.

Former White House Chief of Staff Jacob J. Lew won Senate confirmation to become U.S. Treasury secretary, a job that will immediately thrust him into fights with Congress over the country's debt limit, spending cuts and a threatened government shutdown.

Housing counselors grilled mortgage settlement monitor Joseph A. Smith on why banks are not disclosing data that would show whether communities hit hardest by the foreclosures crisis are getting the bulk of the relief.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke accepted responsibility on behalf of regulators Wednesday for a troubled independent foreclosure review process that has delayed payments to borrowers for nearly two years.

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House banking panel, signaled her support for two key credit union bills to expand business lending and access supplemental capital.

Large banks have been relatively inactive in the market for targets with less than $2 billion of assets, once a staple.

Nearly a year after legislation let more banks stop filing with the SEC, management teams continue to evaluate lower costs against having to move to lesser-known stock exchanges.

The fact that the bulk of the relief from the national mortgage servicing settlement is going to short sales is a huge victory for the economy, consumer advocates' howls notwithstanding.